No action at Log Lane Village special meeting

Citizens air complaints, concerns

ByJENNI GRUBBS Times Staff Writer

Posted:
07/18/2013 11:48:47 AM MDT

Log Lane Village Mayor Ed Parker, right, asks Cliff Garver,?of rural Morgan County, standing, to keep his voice down while speaking during the citizens comments portion of the special meeting of the Log Lane Village Board of Trustees Wednesday at Log Lane Town Hall. (Jenni Grubbs/Fort Morgan Times)

After receiving legal advice in an executive session, the Log Lane Village Board of Trustees on Wednesday night deferred all action that was on their special meeting agenda.

That agenda had included: personnel issues, discussing hiring a new attorney, addressing problems and how to resolve them, employment of future employees and discussing a supplemental budget to cover attorney fees through the end of the year and to cover fees from the former town attorney, Carl McGuire.

The only part of the agenda that was somewhat resolved was that attorney Andy Nathan, of Denver firm Nathan, Bremer, Dumm & Myers, would temporarily offer the town legal advice, acting through the town's contracted services from insurer C.I.R.S.A.

"We have the assistance of Mr. Nathan," Log Lane Mayor Ed Parker said, but he added that the town would need to hire its own attorney before long and "whoever we hire in as an attorney needs to have some experience as a municipal attorney."

Former Town Attorney Carl McGuire resigned after the July 10 regular board meeting, when the trustees initially voted not to pay him for his services and did not follow his legal advice during the meeting.

Town resident Robin Masten asked the mayor why the board did not ask McGuire to return.

"Under the current climate, I don't think he would," Parker said. "We need to get our town back in order.

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Once all of the action and discussion agenda items were deferred by the board, last night's special meeting turned into a kind of public forum, with the mayor allowing people to state their concerns during a citizens' comment period that lasted more than an hour.

Many of those who spoke called for some of the trustees to step down.

"I just want to say, we've asked you guys over and over nicely to step down," resident Sienna Bowen said. "Now, I think we need to demand it. You're just bringing the town down."

Residents Scott Swanson and Anita Gonzalez spoke again about all of the signatures they had been gathering to try to illustrate to the board the town's discontent.

And resident Raina Hallahan said she had been speaking with Morgan County Clerk and Recorder Connie Ingmire about getting a recall election going for some of the trustees.

Former mayor and trustee Bud Anderson said he did not think anyone needed to step down from the board.

"I keep hearing all this talk about asking people to step down," he said. "You guys have no idea how much work they have done" for the town.

Anderson pointed to efforts to get more money to be able to maintain and run the town's water system and that the trustees were seeking accountability from the town's employees.

"What's so wrong with wanting accountability?" he asked.

Former mayor and trustee Paul Vowell took issue with Trustee Roy Nipper, who used to be employed by the town, and his vote to put together as-yet-unspecified just cause to terminate charges against Town Clerk Kim Alva.

"Roy, two years ago when I was mayor, there was an incident that would have cost you your job," he said. "At that time, we decided to give Roy a reprimand. Since we showed you mercy at that time, couldn't you show a bit of mercy?"

Vowell also asked Nipper to resign.

"Roy, I like you, but your calling is not to be on this board," he said. "You have not brought up one idea," but instead act as a "voting machine" for one faction of the board.

"I think you would have more respect in this town if you stepped down," Vowell said. "When I was on the board, there were a lot of ideas that I did not agree with, but we got the business done. One reason for that was we had respect for one another."

Vowell said that right now there was a "spirit of pride" that was causing the trustees not to be able to work with each other.

"You need to sit down as a board and figure out how to work together," he said, echoing what had been said by many different people at most of the last several board meetings.

Other people brought up old issues and how they were resolved or things that seemingly gave the town a black eye and keep haunting the board -- and the town.

Things did get heated at times and at one point Parker threatened to throw out county resident Cliff Garver, but the meeting eventually ended with most people having had their say and no blows being thrown.

And while nothing really was resolved at Wednesday night's special meeting, it was a chance for the towns' residents to air their thoughts on the direction the board should take for the future.